Armenia significantly improved its position last year in the rankings of the world’s most prosperous countries. The annual report of the London-based Legatum Institute, an analytical center, states that compared to the previous year, Armenia registered an increase of 7 points, occupying the 61st position among 167 countries. Moreover, the experts of the authoritative center state that during the ten years this research has been conducted, Armenia has never achieved such a high indicator.
The experts of Legatum reached this conclusion by examining the situation in 12 different fields, from security, personal freedom and quality of governance to the attractiveness of the business environment and environmental protection. Accordingly, Armenia has been included among the countries in the world inspiring the most hope for progress, registering steady growth in almost all indicators. The best result is in the field of education, where Armenia is the leader of the region. The investment environment has also been assessed as equally prosperous — with this indicator, Armenia ranks second after Georgia, but is far ahead of all other countries of the former Soviet Union.
Impressive progress has also been registered in the social field, which shows how solid and united society is in a given country, and to what extent people trust and support one another. With this indicator as well, Armenia this year is first not only in the region, but also among the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Noting that Armenia has been ranked among the countries registering the most notable progress in the world, Legatum links this development to last year’s Velvet Revolution. “In that country, trust in the government has more than doubled,” the report states, detailing that if in 2018 the authorities in Armenia enjoyed only 25 percent trust, now that figure has reached 67 percent. Accordingly, in the field of governance, which assesses the effectiveness of the authorities, the fight against corruption, and respect for the rule of law, Armenia this year has surpassed all countries of the former Soviet Union, with the exception of Georgia. The report states that this indicator is very important not only for the well-being of society, but also for the business environment and economic growth.
Overall, according to the analytical center, the level of prosperity in the world has continued to grow over the past ten years; on the other hand, the gap between the best and the worst has widened — the prosperous have become more affluent, the poor more destitute.
Accordingly, the most prosperous countries in the world are Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and Finland, while at the bottom of the list are Afghanistan, Yemen and Sudan.
